


The Secret Memory

by Elisarah



Category: Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
Genre: Drama, Family Angst, Gen, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-06-07 06:04:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6788977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elisarah/pseuds/Elisarah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their first meeting was unforgettable, for them, and the rest of the Fairy People. But was it really their first? Or have they met before, and just don't know, or even remember? This is a story about the actual first meeting; of a young genius and a rookie officer. Dark themes in later chapters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my very first fanfiction! :D  
> This is an idea that popped into my head and never left, so I thought 'why not at least write it down'.  
> I hope you guys like it! :)

** Prologue: Top Secret File  ** **The Night Where The Story Truly Began?**

**Haven City, LEP Police Plaza**

It was a mostly pretty calm day in the Lower Elements for the LEP. A day with hardly any trouble, well no big trouble that had the LEP super busy that is. Aboveground was actually free of fairy trouble, in fact, why wouldn't it be? It was late into the night, and although usually an ideal time for any fairy to travel topside; wether it be for buisness or pleasure, it actually wasn't the best time for any fairy, nor human for that matter, to be out on a night like this one.

The only troublesome thing going on on the surface; was the big strong thunderstorm, that was said to have come early in the night and wouldn't end till early the next morning.

All rides to the surface were cancelled for today, not that any fairy would actually want to, or be a need for them to go topside at the moment. Not even the humans would like to be out in a storm like this one unless it was necessary.

What are the odds? Just like that night. Were the thoughts of a certain LEP Commander; while he slowly puffed his fungus cigar..

It had been a week since the most famous crime in both the fairy and human world was committed. Since then, the the Commander had been really busy, that is till today. Most of his paperwork for the day was completed (most of it), and it was now time for a break. Or rather, the Commander was just simply sidetracked reading a secret file that he came across while looking through an extremely classified folder. He saw the folder in in a box in the file room hidden in a corner, and out of boredom he decide to look through it, and a bit of curosity too. But not to much curiosity, because he already knew what files that box contained. The only ones who knew the whereabouts of the box's contents were, the fairy council, the LEP's technician, and of course himself, Commander Julius Root of the LEP.

The files hadn't been touched since the time they were filed, and were not really meant to be looked at again unless necessary, but the Commander, being bored out of his mind at the moment, didn't care. If he was one of the few that had permission to look through it, why not do so at least for today?

Not like there was anything better to do, he thought as he skimmed through the files. Until he got to a certain one. He stopped to read this one through, but why? What was so special about this particular file?

Julius had actually realized that this file had some sort of connection with the Peoples recent dealing with the humans. But what connection exactly?

The name of the file was titled "Last Fairy Mind Wipe"

But it wasn't only the title that gave the Commander the desire to read this file through, but the name of the fairy that was written further down the page.

"Amnesiac: Holly Short"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well? How is it so far? Any good? Let me know! :D


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its a short chapter too, but they'll get longer.  
> And I'd also like to introduce the song for this story;  
> Y Llegaras by Patricia Manterola  
> You can find it on SoundCloud on my profile with the same profile name.  
> And since its in spanish, I translated the lyrics the best I could and wrote them in the description box.  
> Hope ya'll like the song I picked for this story, and I hope ya'll enjoy the new chapter! :)

**Chapter 1: Let’s See What She Can Do!**   
**A Commanders Best Decision?**

 

Up to a certain time, mind wipes were allowed to be used between the fairy folk, but only if it were approved by the fairy Council. Although, it was used on very few occasions, the situation had to be serious, and the Council would’ve had to believe that it were best thing to do. And unlike human mind wipes, a fairy mind wipe is more complicated, having there be many more procedures to do. A fairy mind wipe was confidential, only known to the Council and a few of the higher up members of the LEP. Eventually they had outlawed the use of it, deciding that it was a cruel thing to do to their own people.  
Julius was involved with the majority of the mind wipe cases, of course being Commander of the LEP. But this last one was different, it was more important to him in a way, because the one wiped was one of his own officers, one he personally chose to take on. This case was Holly Short’s first encounter with a human face to face, and one where it had almost cost her job (not that that’s surprising really). It was also her first aboveground mission (well not counting her initiation), but sadly she doesn't even know it happened.  
But Julius Root does, and he remembered everything that happened on that mission. How could he not? What happened on that mission was something he never witnessed before in all his years of being in the LEP. He read through the information and full report, recalling every detail, as if he were reliving all the events that took place on the night of this special mission.  
It almost feels like it happened just recently, he thought, and the night was just like this one.

**Haven City, LEP Police Plaza: 12 years ago**

Commander Root was angrily sorting through the files stacked on his desk. He was progressing through them at a slow pace, and he was not in a good mood. But then again when was he ever in a ‘good’ mood. Though his mood wasn’t the way it was because of the paperwork he was doing, but because of a certain LEP technician’s nonstop boasting. Foaly had come into Root’s office, unannounced, in order to remind Julius about having some of the LEP officers test out his new inventions and gadgets on today’s mission. Root had sat there for almost 30 minutes listening to the centaur’s constant bragging about how good his gadgets were and how exceptionally brilliant he was. Root was just about to finish sorting, when he finally had enough.  
“Foaly are you ever going to shut your yap or am I going to have to do it for you”, he said as he looked up at the centaur, who was busy talking about how his amazing mind had come up with the gadget he was fiddling with at the moment, “I couldn’t care less about how brilliant your mind is or how good your little toys are!”. Foaly wasn’t really surprised at the Commander’s sudden outburst, well he wouldn’t call it sudden really, he knew Julius to well, and pretty much expected this reaction from him.  
“Jeez Julius, you don’t have to lose what little cool you have left, and these..” said Foaly pointing to his inventions “ you know are not toys, why do you always have to rain on my parade?”.  
“Why do you always have to be such a self-righteous pain in the ass?!”, Root shot back “And I told you a thousand times, don’t call me Julius!”. He then went back to focusing on his paperwork.  
Foaly pouted “Well you don’t have to be so mean about it” he said before he went back to fiddling with his gadget again.  
Root ignored that last comment the centaur made. He had finally finished with his papers and seemed satisfied with his decision.  
“All set then”, he said to himself, sounding very content. Foaly brought his attention back to the Commander, “Finally decided who’s going to test out my new inventions?” he asked a little curious.  
Root didn’t bother to answer the question, instead he laid out the six files he chose over his desk. Each paper had the information and a picture of some the new officers to the LEP Reconnaissance Squad.  
Foaly clopped over to the desk to examine the ‘chosen candidates’, he skimmed through the names and pictures of the rookie officers.  
The last file he saw caught his attention, “Hey, isn’t that the-“ he started to say but was interrupted by Julius, “Yes yes yes it is” the Commander quickly finished.  
The centaur looked at him with curiosity, “So you’re gonna go with-“  
“Yes I am” said the Commander sounding a little perturbed.  
Foaly thought for a few seconds, “Hm are you sure this mis-“  
“Yes Foaly! Yes! I am one hundred percent sure of my decision and I won’t change my mind! If you don’t like it then tough!” the Commander lost his patience, again, surprise surprise.  
“Okay fine fine, calm down I was just wondering!”  
“Well I don’t have to give you any explanations!” retorted Julius as he got a big fungus cigar and started smoking it. The centaur rolled his eyes, so easy to anger, typical Julius he thought.  
As he puffed out the smoke, Root spoke “Don’t question my decisions pony boy” he said as he looked at Foaly.  
“I wasn’t alright! Don't get so testy, I was merely just-“  
“Look,” said the Commander with a more serious than angry face. “She is the first female officer in recon, and she practically proved herself rather worthy for the position during her initiation, but just because she’s a girl doesn’t mean I’m going to go easy on her” Root said as he stood up from his chair, “This isn't the place for that. Captain Holly Short knows it too. I will personally be keeping a very close watch on her, and I will be tough on her, because I can tell she has potential to be one of the best. And if she wants to be one of the best, then she must be tough and do everything I say!”  
The Commander finished with that, and gathered his files together. Foaly looked at the Commander with a somewhat surprised face, Root rarely talked like that about his officers. Not that he didn’t really care, he just never really showed it.  
Foaly spoke “Well then, let’s see what she can do!” This’ll be really interesting he thought. Root headed toward his office door with the papers in his hand “Well in less than an hour, we will” he said as he opened the door and walked out. A few steps behind, Foaly followed him out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now I know the timeline on this isn't that accurate, but I don't really know how the timeline worked around in the first book, so I just made a guess, though mostly for the sake of the story XD  
> But either way,  
> What ya'll think? :D


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok new chapter up guys!  
> Last chapter I mentioned a song that goes with this story, so if you had not already checked it out, well check it out!:) It can be the story's opening theme for whenever a new chapter's posted XD  
> Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!:D

** Chapter 2: Marina The Old Pixie  **

**A Fairy With Some Strange Sort Of Magic Trick?**

Holly Short was in a very anticipative mood when she woke up this morning (well, night above ground). Which was surprising, considering these last couple of weeks haven’t exactly gone in the elf’s favor. She had started her other mornings rather anxiously, and it had quickly lessened each day, which instead had her becoming quite skeptic. Her days would always end in some disappointment. This mood cycle, had gone on for two weeks.  
The reason for all the elf’s different moods; being assigned to go on her first official aboveground mission.  
A majority of the new LEPrecon captains had already been assigned on their first mission, a few of them had even gone on their second one the next day.  
Holly was one of the very few that had yet to be assigned one (obviously), and she was growing pretty impatient because of it. Which by the way, isn't a very good attribute for an LEP officer to have. But in Holly's case, she just couldn't help it. Plus its how she was, her patience only lasted so long. It had been a month since her initiation, and she had been ready to go since then. Instead, the vexed elf was coming home each day from doing nothing but a bunch of paperwork all day. Paperwork that was better suited for the lower rank officers as a matter of fact.  
She knew her initiation wasn’t perfect, which it probably made it harder for her to be assigned to the right mission, but at least she still passed it. It had even been the talk of Haven at the time; the first female to pass the initiation and go into LEPRecon. Although admittedly, much to Holly’s displeasure, not most of the talk was all good talk.  
Some of the officers had gone around saying that it was just a fluke, or that it shouldn’t have been considered valid, due to the fact that it was interrupted and had ended up turning into a very dangerous situation involving an actual criminal. Not like it was her fault, she always mused, and she had still passed either way, so there. Though the majority of the officers had been saying that despite whatever happened on her initiation, she wasn’t going to last long in the force anyway, she’d quit within a few months.  
Sadly, all in all; not very much positive feedback.  
This irritated Holly, she knew she had what it takes to be there and she knew she could prove everyone that thought negative about her wrong. And that everyone, also included her Commander; Julius Root, who was never much in her favor to begin with either.  
But then how was she going to get the chance to show what she was made of if she hadn’t even been assigned on a mission yet? She had to be assigned one sooner or later, if not then, she really hated and didn’t want to think like this at all, but if she wasn’t assigned on a mission soon, then she just might be tempted to believe in what some of the officers had said, and maybe she wouldn't last there long after all.  
The elf instantly mentally slapped herself. No, no, she couldn't, she wouldn’t think like that. She wasn’t going to let them win. She’d show them all.  
This rookie recon captain was ready to go, ready to feel the rush of adrenaline from being on a mission, and ready to show the rest of the reconnaissance squad and Lower Elements what she was made of.  
And today was that day.  
She felt it, felt it when she woke up this morning, and it had to be true. She had never felt so sure on any of the other mornings.  
_Today is definitely the day_ she thought as she started to sit up on her futon, _I just know it, I can feel it, and I can sense it, like as if the surface were calling my name right now! Today, I will be assigned my first mission!_  
In some kind of way, the surface actually was calling her. Holly was feeling a strong urge that she needed to be above ground today, an urge she didn’t have before. It was a bit strange, but hard to ignore.  
To her it was proof, today was it. Holly then flung her bed covers to the side and headed for the shower. She turned the faucet to the ‘Hot’ setting, then undressed and got in. She always enjoyed feeling the hot water on her, (and it was a perk she loved about living near the earth’s core) it made her feel relaxed after a long day and it woke her up in the mornings, making her feel ready for anything. And this morning especially, she felt particularly ready.  
But oblivious to the rookie captain, in actuality, she was nowhere near ready for anything that was about to happen on her first mission.  
The elf turned off the shower and got out, after drying herself off, she zipped on her LEP uniform and boots. She checked herself over in front of her mirror, straightening the acorns on her lapel, and making sure everything was in place. She couldn’t look unprepared, she needed to look extra perfect today. Once she was finally satisfied with her look, she ran to grab a quick smoothie from her fridge and a grain bar from her pantry. She then quickly grabbed her keys and headed out the door, not wanting to waste a single minute.  
The city of Haven wasn’t as bustling like it usually was in the mornings, there was only a few fairies that didn’t have the day off to relax and were walking to work, or doing any other business they needed to do. Although the distracted rookie captain hardly took any notice in it, she was to anxious to get to Police Plaza as fast as she could.  
Holly, however did notice that the shuttle stations were pretty much empty when she went passed them. Upon closer attention, it was because almost every shuttle ride to the surface was canceled. Holly knew of course that it was because of the big strong thunderstorm going on aboveground. Unless it was absolutely necessary, no fairy would head up to the surface with storm like that going on. Tonight wasn’t even a full moon, ergo there wasn’t much of a reason to go up there, not that you’d even be able to see the moon with all the clouds hiding it.  
Being the LEP of course, meant that Holly would have to withstand this storm or any other to do her job. In which she didn’t even mind whatsoever. _Like a little rain storm is going to keep me from completing my mission_ thought Holly, _I can do it no problem_.  
After a while, Holly soon began to see the building of the police station about a mile away from where she was.  
She continued on her walk, while at the same time she began to wonder on what kind of a mission she would be assigned to. It all really depended on what the Commander thought she would be best suited for. But what she did know for sure, was that no matter what the mission, she was going to make sure to carry it out as excellent as possible. She just needed to be assigned to one to do it. Unless the Commander knew she wasn’t ready to take on a mission at all.  
The young elf suddenly stopped and shook herself. No. Of course she was ready. And the Commander knew that, she would make sure he knew that. Besides, how could he not assign her one? It’s been long enough already. Not to mention there weren’t many new captains left to choose from anyway. _There is no doubt. I am most definitely certain,_ the rookie captain reassured herself _, I_ will _be going on my first mission today._  
She was right.  
“Penny for your thoughts?”  
A voice just came out of nowhere that made Holly do an embarrassing little jump at hearing it. Which she really hoped no one had seen. She didn’t think that with all her training she'd be caught off guard so easily like that. Although she had easily zoned out the little noise that was going on in the city, that voice was loud and clear enough to startle her from her thoughts, and it had sounded awfully close.  
Holly turned to where she thought the voice had come from. She was right in it being close. No more than a few feet from her, was a fairy sitting on the sidewalk.  
The first thing she noticed about the fairy was her hair; it was pure white, and it looked like it hadn't been combed or brushed in centuries, it kind of almost resembled like a sort of wild mop. The few hair clips she had on it didn’t even seem to be holding any of it together, better yet they looked like they were just placed in random places. The fairy looked to be a pixie, judging that her skin wasn’t green or brown, only wrinkly. She was wearing a long faded blue robe, with very few sequins still attached to it.  
The old pixie was calmly sitting next to a small grill, and she was in the process of grilling, what looked like to be some prawns on a stick.  
Now the sidewalk isn’t exactly the best place to be cooking your breakfast, nor while being so close to a police station at the same time, but it was as if the few fairies around hardly even noticed the old pixie sitting by herself. Holly walked right passed her and didn’t even notice the old one sitting there either. It was like she was almost transparent, or could’ve mostly been because the elf was just very deep in her thoughts.  
“Excuse me?” Holly asked the fairy, half wondering if she were the one who spoke.  
The pixie was grabbing her skewer to turn the prawns over.  
“Well in all honesty” she then spoke, “I don’t have a penny”. The old pixie flipped her pocket inside out to show that it was true. “So how about a freshly grilled prawn instead?” she picked up her skewer moving it in Holly’s direction, “They are really quite succulent!” she said with a smile.  
Holly looked at the steaming crustaceans that were put in front of her face, and she couldn’t help but give a face of slight disgust at them. The majority of the Fairy People were vegetarians, due to their Gift of Tongues, which allowed them to communicate with animals, and therefore they didn’t see it right to eat them. Of course there were the exception of a few fairies that didn’t think of it as a problem, and they would actually eat certain kinds of animals. Like this fairy for example. How she could eat her prawns out in the open (well in the open space that was available underground that is) without considering any other fairy, or without even get harassed by one was a mystery to the rookie captain.  
Holly on the other hand was a vegetarian, and she wasn't even close to thinking about trying to eat a once living creature.  
”No thank you ma’am, I don’t eat seafood” she declined as politely as she could. The pixie just withdrew her food from Holly’s face while giving her a smirk, a smirk that seemed to say that she found funny what the elf had just said. “Oh of course. That’s alright” the pixie bit her prawn. “It’s not the time yet” she suddenly said with a bit of a mouthful. Although the words were still audible to the captain’s elven ears.  
Holly gave her a quizzical look. “I’m sorry ma’am, what was that?”  
There was a very short chuckle that came out of the pixie, “Oh nothing dear, nothing at all, just things I say to myself” she continued eating her prawns.  
“Oh…” Holly said, as she slowly and slightly nodded her head.  
The rookie captain wasn’t really convinced with the answer she was given, nor was sure what to think of that comment made on a mouthful. Though, judging by the fact that it was coming from an old pixie sitting on a sidewalk cooking her breakfast, she decided not to give it much importance.  
“Well anyway” Holly began, in a now serious tone “I must be going. Though I would like to suggest that I think it’d be a better idea if you were to cook your food elsewhere that isn't here” she advised her, hoping she would understand why.  
The pixie ignored the elf’s comment, and her sudden ‘police seriousness’ tone. “Is what I’m doing a serious crime?” the pixie asked deciding to poke a little fun at the rookie captain, she didn’t even care about the answer to the question.  
Holly's composure surprisingly (not to surprising really) didn’t falter. “No it isn’t” she answered “only that cooking those prawns near a police station is not a really good idea”.  
She noticed a smirk start to form on the pixie’s face while she talked. “If you’re trying to insinuate _officer_ ” the pixie spoke back, “that these delectably good crustaceans were brought down here illegally, then you’re wrong”. Holly caught the bit of mock towards her in the old fairy’s words. But the captain still remained unscathed, she wasn’t about to make the rookie mistake of getting annoyed when not being taken seriously.  
“Believe it or not,” the pixie continued as she lifted her skewer and slightly shook it “these were caught by me only, for me only. And not in an illegal way either”. She then bit off the tail of one of the prawns and ate it. Holly couldn’t stop herself from grimacing at that. Not even the Mud Men would eat the tails. The old pixie just smiled at the officer’s face “It’s my favorite bit” she claimed after she swallowed.  
Holly’s face returned to normal as she sighed through her nose, this seemed to be turning into a time wasting conversation, in which she didn’t have time for. She could have weird conversations with strange old-maybe slightly crazy-fairies when the world ends, and all you could do is just sit and wait for the inevitable.  
But right now she had her first official mission to get to, and she wasn’t about to be late for it.  
“Right” Holly then spoke “Well whatever the case miss, I still think its best that you probably go elsewhere to eat your food, and like I said before, I must be going, I have some extremely important business to attend to, so I bid you a good day”. With that, Holly turned on her heel to continue her walk towards Police Plaza.  
The old pixie suddenly called after her, “Oh yes of course, I understand. You wouldn’t want to be late to your first mission as an LEP Captain, now would you Holly Short?”  
Holly stopped dead in her tracks and froze. For a moment there was nothing but silence. Even the whole city sounded like it went completely went.  
“Although in the end, you won’t even remember any of it” the pixie then said to herself as she saw out of the corner of her eye that the elf had stopped walking.  
Holly hadn’t walked to far away from the pixie, but even then she wasn’t sure (or she was hoping she heard wrong) if she heard the pixie right. Holly turned back to the strange old fairy, confusion and shock written clearly all over her face. She walked back towards the pixie, with her mouth slightly agape. “What did you just say?!” her police composure almost forgotten.  
The pixie didn’t even bother to look up from her food. Holly stood there sending a glare at the old fairy, annoyance starting to creep up on the elf’s face.  
“Repeat what you said, are you claiming to know me?”  
The pixie still didn’t say a word.  
“Answer me! How is it that you know about me?” Her voice starting to get a tad loud, “Who are you?!” she said finally.  
After a short pause, and before Holly could speak, the pixie looked up at the elf with a small smile on her face. “The few that know me call me Marina. And it is nice to finally talk with you Holly” she said.  
Holly let out a short annoyed sigh, while simply crossing her arms at the old pixie’s introduction. “How do you know about me?” she asked again, her voice going back to normal but sounding stern. “And you also said something afterwards, something I didn’t catch, what was it?”  
Marina slightly chuckled “I’ve known things about you since before you were born” she simply said.  
The poor elf’s confusion just grew. _Known?_  
“How do you know? What do you know? Why do you know?!” she said with some impatience beginning to creep into her voice, “I haven’t even seen you before in my life!”  
“Well,” Marina then began to speak calmly, “I don’t know everything about you. I guess you can say I only know the somewhat important things, and actually very few them”. Marina continued eating as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on.  
Holly was dumbfounded. What things could this fairy possibly know about her? How did she find out? And why? All of this was really beginning to alarm her. “You haven’t-“  
“There is no need to be so hasty about things my dear” Marina interrupted her, “it’s not a good thing for a police officer to do you know, it could lead you into trouble”.  
This irked Holly. How could this fairy just treat this situation as if it were a joke? Was she playing some sort of twisted game with her? Holly didn’t like this one bit. She was desperate to know answers, and could easily take this fairy in to be interrogated. But even if she did, she knew she had to be calm about it, losing her cool wasn’t going to help her. She needed to be calm, not because the pixie told her, but because she was LEP and she knew how to be professional about this. The rookie captain started to calm visibly by letting out a long exhale.  
Marina swallowed her food and smiled as she took notice at what the elf was doing. She waited till Holly was ready to speak, and spoke first, just before she could get a word out. “I wouldn’t mind at all answering any of your questions dear, really. But you don’t have time to listen to my long story, not to mention there isn’t much of a point of telling you since...” Marina paused shortly before speaking again “...you won’t be remembering any of this by the end of the day”.  
Holly started, “What are you talking about?” She asked, a little frightened of knowing the answer.  
The corner of Marina’s mouth turned up slightly “All I can tell you Holly, is that this mission” she said as she laid the empty skewer on the grill and looked the elf in the eye, “your first mission, will be one that will change the path your life will take. But only, if you make the decision to change it”.  
Holly was about to open her mouth to speak, but thought better of it and learned that it’s best to let her finish. “You won’t know which it will be and I can’t tell you which you should choose, that is for you to decide all on your own. And, there is no need to worry about how I know about you” she said with a smile, “One day, it will all be clear”. Marina sounded like she had finished, and Holly quickly took the opportunity to ask; “Do you know what will happen on my mission?”  
“Not every detail” Marina answered, “though I can tell you that it is something that you would never expect to happen in your life”.  
_More good answers_ , thought Holly. She assumed that she wasn’t going to tell her anything more about her mission, and so didn’t see much of a point to try and ask.  
Marina noticed the mix of emotions on the elf’s face from all of this. She decided to take some mercy on the poor elf, just to show that she wasn’t some mean old witch or something. Which she wasn’t (a witch, nor really mean actually).  
“There is only one thing I can tell you about the mission”. Holly looked at the fairy, and gave her undivided attention.  
“No matter what happens, or what anyone says or tells you, when you come across a very difficult choice, follow your heart. Do what your heart tells you, don’t listen to anything else but your own heart... and listen very closely”.  
Holly didn’t feel half as satisfied as she hoped she would after that. She became pensive about this whole thing. Marina didn’t miss her emotions, but she knew, that when the time came, she wouldn’t fail.  
The pixie suddenly looked upward to the ceiling as if she had seen something. Holly caught the movement and followed her gaze, expecting to see trouble or something out of the ordinary so she could spring into action. The only thing, or things, on the ceiling, were the many light strips that illuminated the city of Haven.  
Holly looked back down at the fairy, who was still just looking at the ceiling as if there really was something out of the ordinary up there. Maybe a drunken sprite that had zoomed by, she just didn’t see it on time. Before Holly could ask ‘what’, Marina spoke a single word; “Humans”.  
The elf made face “Humans?” she repeated  
“Yes, humans” Marina said again. “They are… such strange creatures” her face showing curiosity.  
_Strange doesn’t even began to describe the Mud People, thought Holly_.  
Why did the pixie start thinking about Mud Men all of a sudden?  
“Wh-“  
“Do you have the time?” Marina asked looking back at Holly.  
The elf’s gaze was half way to her watch when it clicked.  
“My Mission!” said Holly “Oh D’arvit! I can’t be late!” Holly started at a run towards Police Plaza.  
“Keep in mind my advice!” Marina called to her with a grin on her face. “You won’t see me” she started to say to herself, “But I’ll see you. It’s going to be a long while before we can speak with each other again. But I know that by that time, you would have accomplished so much. And you will continue to accomplish long after then. Good Luck Holls”.  
Holly wasn’t to far away when she thought she heard Marina yell something to her. The elf stopped where she was and looked back “Wha-” she started to yell as she looked back at the sidewalk where she once stood. There was no one there. She did a complete spin, looking for the messy white haired pixie. Nothing. She was gone. All Holly could see was a store vender to her left, who took a second from sweeping the dirty entrance to his store to stare at the spinning elf who was yelling to the four winds, but immediately looked down at the floor and went back to sweeping as if he had noticed nothing when Holly looked at him.  
Still not sure where the strange old pixie had disappeared to, Holly decided to put it aside for now, and focus on the most important thing at the moment.  
She started her run again towards Police Plaza.

:::::

_Next time_...

** Chapter 3: Urgent News! A New Mission Is Brought To Light! **

**The Return Of An Infamous Shapeshifting Fairy?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as you just now noticed, I'll be puting the title of next chapter after each chapter I post. It's my lame way of giving you guys a sneak peek of what's to come;D  
> And if you hadn't already guessed, next chapter will start giving hints as to what the plot will center around. In other words, the chain of events that will lead up to our two heroes meeting each other for the first time!  
> So stay tuned guys, and of course don't forget to like and comment to let me know what ya'll think!:D


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I was gonna take longer in updating this chapter, cuz I was thinking about really editing it.  
> But I mean why change it now? I was content with it before, I mean that's why they call em 4 am miracles right! XD  
> Well with this chapter y'all are all caught up, I'm right in the middle of writing the next one, so that one will definetly take longer.  
> But hopefully this chap (actually a bit longer than the ones before) will hold you guys till then.  
> Hope y'all enjoy it!:D

**Chapter 3: Urgent News! A New Mission Is Brought To Light!**

**The Return Of An Infamous Shapeshifting Fairy?**

 

Now, when you think about it, it's not a very good idea to run in a police building (or any building for that matter).  
Trouble Kelp wasn't actually running though, he was power walking. Well, of sorts. Every other step he would throw in a little jog or skip to go a bit faster.  
It was still somewhat early in the Lower Elements, and although a few more fairies had arrived, the place still wasn’t as lively like usual.  
Which was actually a good thing for the wayward walking elf, it meant that less fairies would see him doing his weird little run (or see him trip if he did).  
But Trouble wasn’t really worried about that at the moment. He had urgent news that he had to get to Commander Root.  
After going across the plaza (and almost colliding and getting burned by a steaming cup of coffee being carried by a sprite while rounding a corner) he finally reached the Commander’s office.  
Just when he was about to start knocking on the door, he suddenly heard the Commander’s voice coming from the other end of the hall. He turned around to see said fairy walking and talking with Foaly, the LEP’s technical consultant. The elf Captain quickly hurried after them.  
“Commander!” he called out.  
The centaur and the elf had stopped walking and turned around when they heard his voice.  
“Commander Root S-oof ow!” Trouble suddenly tripped over his feet and stumbled a little while trying to regain his balance.  
The Commander raised his eyebrow at the Captain. While Foaly tightened his lips, at an attempt to keep a smile from showing on his face, but to no avail.  
Trouble then greeted them once he caught up, “Good morning, Commander, Foaly” he said a tad out of breath.  
“Morning Kelp” Root greeted back, “Mornin Trubs” said Foaly with a small wave of his hand.  
“What’s going on Captain Kelp? Or were you just stopping to greet us during your morning jog through the plaza?” jested the Commander.  
Foaly let out a tiny snicker, remembering the elf tripping over his own feet. But he quickly turned his head to the side and changed his face when Root shot him a side glare.  
“Forgive me Commander, I was in a bit of hurry” answered Trouble, “We had just received some urgent news from the fairy we sent topside to investigate about the possible ping. And it looks like he’s finally been spotted”.  
“Who?” asked the Root and Foaly at the same time. Julius sent another irritated side glare at Foaly, who acted like he didn’t notice it.  
“Victor Silas” answered the Captain.  
Foaly’s eyebrows arched at the name, “That cuckoo elf who stole my prototype Mimic device right out of Verbal’s hands? He’s finally been spotted after all these months?” he crossed his arms.  
“When and where was he seen Kelp?” pressed Root. “Captain Maverick, had caught sight of him in Dublin about two hours ago, and he said that he looked to be accompanied by a human”.  
“A human?” exclaimed Julius “Looks like this might be a difficult one” (he had no idea how right he was).  
“But wait, how are sure if it’s even him? If he stole my device, then no doubt he would be using it” commented Foaly.  
“Maverick claims that the one he saw was unmistakably one of the people, elven to be exact, and says that he actually saw him use your device”.  
“Well then let’s check the video feed either way, we don’t want to take any chances with this convict. Get those computers running centaur, Kelp you call for Maverick and meet up with us at the Ops Booth” said Root as he began to walk off.  
“Yes sir” answered Trouble as he turned the opposite way to head back towards the cubicles.  
Foaly then clopped off after Root, “Hey Julius wait, what about the files?” he motioned to the ones in Roots hand.  
“Don’t worry about them” dismissed the Commander, “I’m starting to think that I may have to redo these, if recent developments may need me to do so”.  
Foaly looked skeptic, but just shrugged it off and continued after him.

:::::

Holly opened the doors of the police station letting out a sigh of relief. She had made it. Thank goodness she wasn’t late, it meant things were starting off well.  
She started walking towards the cubicles, but at a slow pace so she could catch her breath a little after running over here.  
She had actually arrived a bit early then the time she was normally supposed to be here, so she didn’t see much of a need to run to her cubicle, and it really wasn’t that far anyway.  
She noticed there weren’t that many fairies around the station, so it was actually a little quiet. The fairies in the break room that were drinking coffee, were even conversing on a low level, she noticed as she walked by. _Wonder if something’s up_ , thought the elf, _they’re usually a bit livelier, I mean it’s not_ that _early_.  
Holly turned down the hallway that led to where her cubicle was located. The silence was actually stronger as she walked down the hall, you could barely here anything from either end.  
The elf’s thoughts suddenly went back to the strange encounter she had with the pixie Marina. She still wasn’t sure what to think of the whole thing. It was weird, and it actually worried her.  
Holly’s eyes started to scan around the hallway, as if she were looking for some threat that could appear at any second.  
_How am I going to forget about today? What will happen?_ The thought almost scared her. _Marina said something about making the right decision, does that have something to do with it? Will I be ready to face it? What will I do??_  
Holly started at all these thoughts, her enthusiasm for her mission and her confidence had begun to drop. She walked a little faster to her cubicle, ignoring all of the fairies that were around her as she did. All the while her mind tried its best to push all these thoughts aside. She couldn’t worry about it now.  
_If I worry I won’t be able to stand up to what lies ahead, and I shouldn’t worry about something that I don’t even know what it is._  
Finally reaching her cubicle, she stopped to take a breath.  
_Whatever does happen I’ll handle it then_ , Holly assured herself. _It’s all I can do about it for the moment. Right now, I’m just going to focus on everything else._  
The Commander needed to see that she was ready for her mission, no matter what. She wasn’t about to let her negative thinking screw this up for her.  
Once she felt her confidence beginning to return, she relaxed.  
Her desk was stacked with quite a bit of paperwork that she needed to do. She decided to focus on getting some of it done to keep her busy (she’d have to do it all sometime anyway).  
The elf pulled out her chair to sit down when it suddenly hit something. “Oww!”  
Holly was startled out of her thoughts as her hand quickly flew to her hip, while she moved the chair to look for the source of the voice.  
There was a sprite on the floor rubbing his head as he tried to stand himself up.  
“What-”, Holly got a good look at the sprite’s face, “Chix?! What are you doing?!”  
The sprite stood up and began to focus his eyes on the fairy in front of him. “Oh. Uh, hey Holls, good morning to ya” he answered.  
“What are you doing crawling on the floor near my desk Verbal?” asked the elf almost threateningly.  
Chix smiled sheepishly as he continued to rub his head “Hehe.. yeah uh sorry about that, I didn't mean to startle you baby. I was actually just trying to avoid being seen by Foaly”.  
The elf looked at him strangely. “Ok first” she said in a stern voice, “it's Captain Short, not Holls or baby or babe or any other ridiculous names you can think of, second, what are you avoiding Foaly for? And third, why would you be crawling on the ground and hiding behind my desk to do it?”  
“Nothing, nothing” said Chix raising his hands up in defense, “Jeez, I guess you’re feeling a little tense this morning huh?”  
The elf narrowed her eyes and sent a glare towards the sprite, the last thing she needed right now was to get pissed off by talking to another frustrating fairy. Chix quickly got the message from the look on her face. “Ok ok sorry never mind, forget it. I was joking, it was just a joke, I was just messing with…” he decided not to continue with the sentence, before something (else) stupid slipped out of his mouth.  
“And, anyway” he went to answer her questions, “for one thing, I wasn’t crawling on the floor nor hiding behind desks. I just.. I thought heard Foaly’s voice coming from down the hall and I just ducked”.  
Holly rolled her eyes while letting out a sigh through her nostrils.  
“And I mean it’s not like I did anything to him..” his eyes then began to wander around the room “well, I mean, I didn’t do anything bad” he added as he scratched the back of his neck.  
“Mhm” Holly eyed the sprite.  
Chix sighed then glanced back at the elf “You’ve heard the news right?”  
Holly’s attitude suddenly changed a bit, “What news?” she asked. _Maybe this is what everyones been secreting about._  
“It’s something that just happened this morning, everyone’s already heard about it. I would’ve thought you heard too, since you’re here kinda early”.  
“No, I haven't heard of anything actually, I just got here. So what’s the news going around about?” Holly pressed on.  
“Well, it actually has a bit to do with why I’m avoiding Foaly” he said in a small voice. Holly almost rolled her eyes again, she wasn’t that amused with the statement. “See, almost half a year ago, I was testing out one of his new inventions, I think he called it a Mime Device or something like that, I don’t exactly remember. Anyway, the thing is.. is that I got it stolen, by accident” he said a bit embarrassed.  
“Stolen? Who stole it?” asked Holly, her interest now peaked.  
Chix answered in almost a whisper “Victor Silas, you’ve heard of him right?”  
Holly shook her head, feeling a little out of the loop, “No, I’ve never heard of him before”.  
Holly had been a Captain for a month now, and although she grew accustomed to how the force worked, it seemed like it would still take some time before she was really a part of it.  
“Well he’s an elf, and he had escaped to the surface after he stole the device” Chix explained “and the LEP had lost track of him after that, he disappeared without a trace. That is at least until just a few hours ago. The news is that he was finally spotted aboveground”.  
“Really? But what did he steal the device for? What's his story?” the Captain asked very curiously.  
“Whoo” Chix said with a scoff as he waved his hand to one side “well let me tell ya ba-uh I mean Captain, this fairy is definitely some case”.  
Holly gave Chix her undivided attention.

:::::

Foaly was skimming through the helmet’s video feed on his computer. The Commander hadn’t take his eyes of the screen in front of him, searching for anything that could lead them to a clue about Silas.  
The city of Dublin was passing by in almost a blur on the video, though the blur was mostly due to the fact that it was raining. The lights of the city were barely a visible flicker in the images.  
Once the video was halfway through, Root suddenly saw what seemed to be a small spark of blue light on the bottom corner of the screen.  
“Hey did you see that?” exclaimed Foaly.  
“Rewind that and zoom it in” the Commander ordered as he got closer to the screen.  
At that same time there was a knock at the door, “Come in” said Root without looking back.  
The door was opened by Trouble Kelp, who was accompanied by a pixie “We’re here Commander” said Kelp.  
The pixie next to him stood at attention “Captain Maverick at your orders sir”.  
“Have a seat Captain,” Root gestured to the nearest seat and the pixie took it. “We have here the footage of your flight, you claim to have seen Victor Silas is that right?” the Commander asked.  
“Yes sir, although the images are very blurry, I saw what I thought looked like to be blue healing sparks coming out of a dark alley, I assumed it could’ve been related to the ping, so I went to get a better look. Once I got closer, I saw that the sparks had come from a fairy, or to be more exact an elf”.  
“And what makes you sure it’s him?” asked Root.  
“At first I didn’t think it was, but it’s from what I saw afterwards that made me speculate that the elf I saw was Silas”.  
“Well let’s see what you saw” said Foaly, as he played the video that was now focused on the spot where the blue light had appeared.  
Foaly had enhanced the lighting in the video, it was actually just about clear enough to notice the figure moving on the screen.  
The mysterious figure definitely had the features of an elf, the brown skin, pointy ears, red hair, and was short in height. The fairy had stopped halfway down the alley, and was looking around to see if it wasn’t being watched.  
Then the blue healing sparks appeared. “Is he healing his shoulder?” wondered Root aloud as he tried to pinpoint what part of the body the sparks were showing up. “Looks like” mused Foaly, “maybe he got into some trouble”.  
“Was there anyone else who looked suspicious at the scene” Root turned to Maverick.  
“Only the one I saw with him sir” answered the pixie.  
The Commander simply nodded, and turned his attention back to the screen.  
The sparks had disappeared, and the elf was walking towards the end of the alley. But then it stopped again just before it reached the open. It looked like it was taking something out of its pocket. Within a few seconds after it did, the figured looked to have all of a sudden grown in size, his pointy ears were gone, and what was once an elf’s red hair had changed to black.  
Foaly had paused the video the minute he noticed those changes, “That’s it, that’s my Mimic device!” he exclaimed “It is him!”  
“Keep it rolling” said Root ignoring what the centaur said. Foaly did as told, while not taking his eyes off the thief of his invention.  
The disguised elf on the screen exited out of the alley and stopped again on the sidewalk. It looked to both sides of its self as it began to lean against the wall of a building.  
After a few minutes a shadow appeared on the left side of the sidewalk, what came into focus was a human. Upon closer inspection, it looked to be a woman.  
Everyone in the room leaned an inch closer to the screen at the same time when they noticed.  
The two figures then walked into the dark alley and were suddenly gone.  
The Commander was the first to speak, “Is that all the footage you got of them?”  
“Yes sir, I tried following them but they suddenly disappeared from my sight, and I couldn’t find them again” answered Maverick.  
“Get a close up on that woman Foaly, I want to know everything!”  
“Already on it boss” said Foaly as his hands clicked away on the keyboard.  
“I guess it’s safe to assume that it is Silas, and now he’s gotten himself involved with humans” claimed Trouble.  
“Yes, looks that way”, the Commander then looked to Maverick “Do you remember the exact location where this took place Captain?”  
Maverick replied with a nod “Yes sir”.  
“Very good. I’m going to send you back there to take another look. Captain Kelp I’ll need your help in this as well, and-”  
“I’ve got her Julius” Foaly interrupted him, “There isn’t to much information, but what we got is pretty revelatory”.  
Root looked over at the screen, shown on it was the photo of the woman with various words of data scrolling next to it.  
The Commander took out a fungus cigar and lit it, “Give me everything centaur” he said as he stuck it in his mouth.

:::::

“So are you saying that he’s now working with a human?” asked Holly. “Working with, or has them under his control, either or we’re still not sure” Chix answered her.  
Holly made a short sharp exhale through her nose.  
He must have them under the _mesmer_. Because no fairy, good or bad, would _work together_ with a Mud Man, no matter what the reason or situation. It was just purposeless.  
The thought of it almost made her upset. Holly hated the Mud People, they were a good for nothing race.  
And they were the ones responsible for the death of her mother.  
She suddenly remembered the last words her mom had said to her, about protecting the people and humans despite Holly's hate for them. A few choice words that Marina had said to her also began to echo in her mind.  
The elf pushed these thoughts away, there was nothing in the world that could ever change what she thought of the Mud Men. This she was certain about.  
“So what will be done about it?” she then asked getting her thoughts back on track, “Has the Commander given any orders yet?”  
Chix shook his head “Nope, nothing. Though of course, the most logical thing to do would be to send someone topside to retrieve him. And the last thing I heard, was that Maverick was called by Beetroot to report to the Ops Booth just a little while ago”.  
“Hmm” mused the elf.  
Holly had to agree with Chix this time around, this elf did seem to be quite the case.  
Which meant that the LEP could very well find themselves, in a very complicated situation.

:::::

"Her name is ‘Noemi Hidalgo’, age 29, Alias: ‘ _Muñeca_ ’” said Foaly as he read the information.  
The woman in the photo’s first noticeable feature, was her big hair. She had a red scarf wrapped around it like a head band, and her bangs were styled in a puffy way above her forehead. She wore big hoop earrings, and seemed to have a lot of makeup around her eyes, along with a strong red lipstick that made her lips stand out.  
“She is, or was, a second in command leader of a Mexican Drug Cartel named; ‘ _Los Alacranes’_ ” continued the centaur, “It says that she was arrested, along with a few other members of the gang, when the Mexican authorities had attacked their gang’s hideout. Practically the whole gang was wiped out during the fight, even the gang’s main leader was killed.  
Only six members, including the Mud Girl, were taken to prison. But they didn’t stay there to long. The last thing the police have on them, is that they had all escaped during a prison riot about a month ago”.  
“So they came all the way to Ireland to hide?” asked Trouble a little confused. “Probably. Though I guess you can never really be to sure with Drug Cartels” the centaur said as he glanced back at the elf.  
“Is that all there is?” the Commander suddenly spoke, “There isn’t anything on Silas?”  
Foaly began to click some keys on his keyboard, “The only background on the girl, is just a normal criminal record for a drug dealer, nothing really out of the ordinary. But, after digging more through the prison records, I found that only five out of the six gang members had a registered identity. Apparently, the sixth one, doesn’t have a single record of his existence”.  
Foaly then brought up a photo on the screen of a human male.  
“The only thing they have on this guy, is that he goes by the name of ‘Vic Mendez’ Alias: ‘ _El Hada Padrino_ ’, Age; claims to be 29, Height 5’10, and Weigh’s 162lbs.”  
“The Fairy Godfather?” Root half-laughed.  
“It’s a procedure in the clique to give their members an Alias, it’s like a code name in between the gangs” explained Foaly.  
The Commander then shot the centaur a very annoyed look, “I know that pony boy I’m not an idiot!” he retorted, “What I mean, is that can he be any more subtle? It’s quite obvious that this is Silas in disguise”.  
The centaur simply rolled his eyes, _well ain’t he smart!_ he thought.  
“Well, if we’re going to apprehend him, then we should go back to the place where he was spotted and track him down” said Root.  
The Commander turned his attention to the pixie officer, “Maverick, like I said earlier, you will go back to that alley were you saw him.”  
“Yes sir”.  
Root then turned to Trouble, “Captain Kelp you are going to help in this as well, so have your retrieval team standing by”. Kelp gave the elf a nod.  
“But first,” the Commander then quickly flipped through the papers in his hand before grabbing two of them, “You are to fetch these two officers and bring them here asap” he said, handing the files to Trouble.  
“Yes sir” Trouble took the papers and looked at them.  
His eyes stopped on one of the files, and he couldn’t help but stare at it for a few seconds, with a bit of a surprised look on his face.  
Captain Maverick noticed this, and from where he was sitting, he caught a glimpse of the paper the elf was looking at. His face became one of shock.  
“I will.. send for them right away sir” Trouble finally answered as he began to head towards the door.  
“Uh but Commander!” Maverick suddenly said before the elf could open the door. “Yes Captain what is it?” ordered Julius as he disposed of his fungus cigar in an ashtray.  
The pixie faltered before he spoke. “Nothing. Or well.. that is sir-”.  
“Is there a problem Maverick?” the Commander’s voice was now stern.  
“No sir, no problem. It’s only, not that I’m questioning your decisions sir, but, just one extra fairy Captain should be more than enough to help on this mission.”  
Foaly had almost froze at hearing the comment. As did Trouble. Their eyes then slowly turned towards the Commander. Who now had his full attention on the pixie, and rose his eyebrow in a challenging manner. “Is that so?” the Commander asked.  
The pixie didn’t say anything right away, and was stopped before he could. “Kelp,” the Commander then turned to him “Give me back the file of Captain Ross and just go fetch the other.”  
Trouble didn’t retort, “Yes sir” he walked back to hand the paper to the Commander.  
“Sir, actually..” Maverick suddenly exclaimed “I heard that Captain Ross’ initiation was quite exceptional, so it would actually make more sense to-”. “Maverick!” Julius interrupted. “Do you have a problem with the officer on this file?” the Commander held up the paper he had grabbed from Kelp’s other hand.  
It took a few seconds, but the pixie finally spoke back. “I have nothing personal against them Commander. It’s just simply that two of us on this mission is more than enough, not to mention that the other officer that you chose-” “Is a female” the Commander finished, getting rather annoyed.  
Root handed the papers back to Trouble. “Get these two in here now Kelp”. “Yes sir right away sir” Trouble went out the door almost quickly.  
Maverick continued to look at Root, a flash of annoyance crossing his his face at the orders.  
“Captain Maverick,” suddenly began the Commander as he took a step towards the pixie.  
“You don’t need to hide behind lame excuses. The Lower Elements has always been a sexist world. And although it is uncommon for a female to make it past the initiation. Well guess what? It happened! The council has sucked it up and I am content, so get used to it.”  
“Commander, her initiation should not have been considered. It had been interrupted, and she had disobeyed your given orders-”  
“I know exactly what happened at the initiation Maverick I was there! You don’t need to go telling me how it was!” the Commanders anger was now starting to turn his face a tinge of that famous shade of red he was known for.  
“Besides, as The Commander, the decisions over initiations, are mine and mine alone! I don’t need anyone’s opinions!”  
“Forgive me Commander, but I think she is unqualified. Nothing good will come out of this mission if she’s assigned to it!”  
The pixie knew he shouldn’t be questioning his superior. But the last thing he wanted was to be on a mission with a female who just got lucky at her initiation. All she would do is ruin everything.  
Root was very close to losing the little patience he had left, “I’m not asking you what you think. It is not your decision. What you need to understand Captain, is that the Reconnaissance team has a girl! So you best start getting used to the idea! And if you question my orders again you are off this mission. Are we clear?” The slight red on Root’s face started to fade as he finished.  
The pixie was obviously upset now, but with a straight face, he answered “Yes sir”.  
“Very well” said Root.  
The pixie then suddenly excused himself and walked out of the room, almost slamming the door behind him.  
Once he left, Foaly, who hadn’t moved an inch throughout the whole ordeal, let out a small breath. “You know there’s not really much of a surprise to his reaction” he dared to speak.  
Root pulled out a chair and sat down.  
“Joe Maverick is one of the most sexist fairies on the force” he said, “I wasn’t surprised either, I actually saw it coming. I just thought he wouldn’t have found out until the briefing”.  
“I’ve heard rumors that the guy has had the worst relationships” Foaly suddenly commented. “His last one was actually the shortest one yet. I heard he had broken up with this girlfriend on Christmas when she surprised him with a more expensive gift than his was. Apparently she had gotten a job to get the money for his gift. Of course the guy was mad, and made a quite a little scene in front of everyone if you can believe it. He’s more old school than anyone I’ve ever seen or known”.  
The Commander shook his head, “I do believe it. But he will just have to deal with it” he said, “Unless he wants his job and career to pay the price”.  
“He is a good officer though Julius” mentioned the centaur, “Compared to Trubs, he’s like a close second”.  
“I know that pony boy” retorted the elf, “but if he wants to be on this mission, then he’ll have to do as I say, and be a good team player with his new teammate”.  
The Commander then stood up and headed towards the door, “Get your gadgets ready Foaly, I’ll see you in 5 minutes”.  
“Will do boss man” said the centaur as Root opened the door and exited the room.  
Once the door closed behind him, Foaly let out a long sigh. _This will_ definitely _be interesting_ , he thought.

:::::

Holly picked up the first few papers from the pile on her desk, “Well Chix, it was nice chatting with you, but I need to get some work done” she said as pulled out her chair to sit down.  
Chix looked at her surprised, “What? That’s it? Nothing else? You only talk to me to squeeze information out of me about a mission just, and then you just send me on my way?”  
The elf rolled her eyes and sighed “Don’t you have any work to do Chix? Or don't you at least have to get back to hiding from Foaly?”  
The sprite crossed his arms and leaned back against the cubicle. “But of course I have loads of work to do” he answered confidently, ignoring the last comment.  
Somehow, Holly doubted that was true.  
“And, I’m only just trying to avoid an unnecessary confrontation with Foaly”. He sounded content, but Holly just scoffed at him.  
“Besides,” the sprite continued as he moved closer to the elf “you know I enjoy talking to you, even if it’s just to gossip for your benefit”. Chix smiled as he said the last part.  
Again, Holly rolled her eyes and sighed. But before she could say something Chix cut her off.  
“You know whether you go on a mission today or not, how bout you just take me up on my offer and have lunch or dinner with me. Preferably dinner though” he winked. Chix then reached into his pocket and took out a slip of paper. “I’ve got a coupon for Spud’s Spud Emporium” he moved it towards the elf captain’s face.  
If Holly had to roll her eyes anymore that day, she was sure they would roll right out of her eye sockets.  
She pushed the coupon out of her face, “Chix I’ve already told you before that I can’t. I have to much work that I have to do”.  
“Oh come on babe” the infatuated sprite pressed on, “there's no guarantee that you'll be assigned a mission today anyway, so you’d be able to use that time to get your work done just in time for dinner tonight”.  
Holly put down her pen, pushed her chair back and turned to face him, now she was starting to get a little annoyed.  
She opened her mouth to retort, but was interrupted.  
“Captain Holly Short” said a voice.  
Chix immediately flinched a little at hearing the voice. Which had come from a one Trouble Kelp, who had come up from behind the sprite.  
Holly stood at attention, “Captain Kelp, good morning” she greeted the elf. “Good morning to you too Captain” Kelp greeted back. He then turned to Chix, who had let out a relieved sigh the moment he saw it was him. “And a good morning to you too Verbal”. “Mornin Trubs” Chix greeted back, “What’s up?”  
“Actually” answered Trouble turning back to Holly, “I’ve been told to come and tell you Captain Short, that Commander Root has requested your presence in the Ops booth”.  
At this; Holly's face showed a tad bit of hope, while Chix just raised his eyebrows.  
“What, is she in trouble or somethin?” he asked.  
Both elves gave him a sideways look, and almost ignored him.  
“No, but he said it’s urgent, and he needs you there now” Trouble continued.  
“Yes of course, I’ll be there right away” Holly answered as she quickly fixed her desk, leaving it the way it was.  
She then excused herself and began to head towards Tech booth.  
“Well uh, good seeing you Chix” said Trouble as he turned to follow behind Holly.  
The two were leaving in quite a hurry that the sprite almost couldn’t keep up.  
“Uh-wait Holls!” he said as he headed after them, “So, is that a no, to the Spud’s? he called in a slightly loud voice, as he saw the two Captains were already close the end of the hallway.  
Not knowing whether they heard him or not, Chix could only watch as they rounded the corner and disappeared.

:::::

_Next Time..._

** Chapter 4: From A Petty Thief, To _Sicario_ **

**Loving The Life Of A Drug Cartel?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok yes, I brought in Mexican Drug Cartels. hehe XD  
> But don't worry, it won't exactly play a big part in the story, I'm not gonna get to into the whole thing, it's just for some excitement. And as for the villain out of nowhere, don't worry, if you can tell from the next chapter's title, you'll learn all about em soon.  
> So well, time for the comments!  
> Was it ok? Was everyone in character? Did it flow right? Did it make sense? Any tips?  
> Y'all let me know! :D I'll be replying to comments from now on!


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